Godly Apocalypse
by anglais
Summary: In a life threatening apocalypse caused by a certain chemical, the seven heroes are brought together to band as one and fight off zombies and other threatening persons in order to survive and bring peace back to the messed up world. Though, only human teenagers, will they be able to fight off the raging hormones and jealousy to help the world as well as the undead?
1. Tree Huggers in the End of the World

Sitting in a clearing sipping tea with the love of his life. She smiled at him, showing off the gorgeous features of her face. The sparkling gray eyes, the elegantly tied back blonde hair, and even the famous glow of her expression as though she had an idea stuck in her head.

She raised her cup, toasting to him. He smiled back, envying her beautiful gaze that was full of more wisdom and grace than he would ever had. She was an owl, a nocturnal creature that could break free of the darkest chains and destroy prey through tactics and deception. He was a shark, lurking around to protect himself and the ones he cared most about. Sharp teeth and an intimidating entrance, ripping anybody who dared enter his domain to shreds.

Though, that dream never seemed to last.

He woke up in a jerky motion, sweating profusely and panting horribly. He cursed under his breath and clenched his fist as he remembered the hellish reality they actually had to experience.

The end of the world. He and his girlfriend had managed to escape the city together. One chemical had caused this stupid war among humans. Humans infected turned blood thirsty, feeding on one another not for the hunger but for the joy of tearing flesh apart piece by piece.

"Percy," his girlfriend called, touching his arm. He jumped, nearly slapping her hand away. He let out a shaky breath seeing it was only her. She stood above him, her face dirty and tired. It was still dark, only the middle of the night. "Are you alright?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Is it my shift yet?" She nodded her head, a worried expression growing on her face. "Alright. Any sign of those walkers yet, Annabeth?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I didn't see or hear any. I'm pretty sure they were drawn towards the city after we escaped."

Percy nodded his head, leaning back against the trunk of a tree they had camped in. They decided to sleep up in the tree as to not get attacked. Annabeth sat on an adjacent branch, watching around the bottom in case any unwanted visitors arrived or attacked. With a sigh, Percy picked up the baseball bat that he had enhanced with nails and other sharp objects. He gripped the leather grip and looked at the name he'd marked on the bat. In his own scribbly handwriting, he had written with a large black marker "RIPTIDE." It seemed like a pretty cool sounding name, so he just figured he would pick that.

"If you have time to stare at your beloved weapon you have time to guard. I'm tired." Annabeth announced, sitting down on her branch and curling up in a blanket. Percy made sure to double-check her rope would support her in case she had fallen during her sleep. He cut his own with a knife shard and stood up. "Goodnight, Percy. Don't let the undead bite."

Percy simply smirked back. "I wasn't planning on it." Managing a small smile, she shut her stormy grey eyes and drifted off into slumber relatively quickly. She was so peaceful when she slept. Of course, one time before when he tried to wake her up she had totally judo flipped him out of a train car that, luckily, was not in motion. She may have seemed like she was all brain, but she seriously knew how to pull a few muscles when it came down to it. She was like falling snowflakes; sometimes soft and gentle and other times roughly falling down from the sky in a stormy fashion.

He loved that girl with all his heart.

Wiping off dried up drool from the side of his face from his slumber, Percy scoped out the area. So far, it seemed that nobody else was around or at least not close enough to attack. He climbed a bit higher in the tree, getting an even better aerial view of the vast woods around them.

After a long while of waiting with no sign of potential danger nearing them any time soon, Percy flopped down on the branch near Annabeth's legs. He simply gazed at her sleeping form, admiring the tender look on her face as she slept. Her breathing was deep and even, almost like a child. She lay on her side, not stirring very much at all. She was still aside from the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Even in her sleep, she was a perfectionist.

As time flew by, he watched her and began to wonder if they even looked like a couple in times like these. After all, Percy was a rough looking kid with ripped sleeves and a giant weapon that he always wielded in case of an attack. His hair was dark and greasy from natural oils and his skin was dirty. After the whole apocalypse had broken out, there was little ability to take a shower. Until then, Percy and Annabeth had bathed in rivers and streams which, to Annabeth's apparent dismay, were not as refreshing to their hygiene as they had wished. In contrast to him, Annabeth still at least looked presentable. Her hair was still that beautiful blonde color and her eyes still held that prideful spark. She may have been dirty, but she pulled it off as though she still wasn't about to back down. She looked so confident and had a special stride in her step. She was confident and dirty and still absolutely breathtaking to Percy.

He would have thought more, but he was distracted by the sudden sound of somebody at the stump of the tree. Cursing at himself for not paying attention, he carefully looked down to see two figures standing at the tree, panting desperately. "Do you think we lost them?" The girl asked, glancing nervously at the woods around them.

"I hope so." The boy said, following her gaze. "We're running low on food, though. We'll have to find something soon."

"I just hope we don't get caught any time soon." The girl replied, sinking down on her bottom to the roots of the tree. She let out a deep sigh before looking around in her bag. She pulled out a dagger and glanced at her reflection softly. Suddenly, she gasped and looked up, only to see Percy parked in the tree.

Percy looked down at them as the one boy drew a knife. The girl held up her dagger, glaring at him. "Well," Percy began, furrowing his eyebrows. "That's not a very friendly introduction at all. Hey, I'm Percy Jackson, former delinquent student of over eight schools and counting. Nice to meet you."


	2. This guy must be shaken, not stirred

"Huh," Percy sighed, looking at the rope the girl had tied him up with. She really seemed to know her knots. "Cozy."

The boy stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"I already told you. I'm Percy Jackson."

The girl stepped up next to the boy, dusting off her hands. She had strange, choppy hair with a small tangled braid done down the side of her face. She might have been pretty if she wasn't glaring daggers into him like she was going to eat him or something. "We know that much. But, who _are _you?"

"Let's see." Percy began in mock retrospect. "I'm a seventeen year old boy trying to survive during an apocalypse. I was born in New York and I lived with my mother in an apartment for the majority of my life. And now here I am, fighting for my life at the end of the world."

The blonde guy and the scary girl glanced at each other as if to ask each other if they could believe the story. The blonde guy with the scar on his lip looked back at Percy. "You don't seem very scared."

"Of course not." Percy replied with a smirk dancing on his lips.

"Why not?" The girl offered, a questioning look gracing her face.

In a flash, a body landed on the blonde guy and sent him tumbling to the ground. A blonde figure had already made her knife to his neck and was daring to cut as she looked up at the girl with a smile. "…because he's got a girlfriend like me handy."

The boy under her moaned while the girl with the choppy hair backed off slightly in surprise. Percy grinned like the idiot he was. "I love you."

"Okay, okay," The girl offered, fear quivering her voice. "We trust you. We don't want to hurt anybody; we're just not used to people not trying to kill us on target. I'm Piper and you're kind of suffocating my boyfriend Jason right now."

Annabeth glanced down at the boy below her. "Is that true, blondie?"

"Yeah." Jason whimpered. Annabeth hesitantly shifted her weight off of him and moved over to Percy. She cut the ropes that binded him and then handed him his weapon once again. "Do you plan on killing us?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders and turned to Annabeth. "Do we?"

"No," Annabeth answered, taking a double take at the new pair. "Not yet anyway. I'd like to know more about you two."

"I'm Piper. Uh, Piper Mclean that is. You might know my dad if you remember movies from a while ago. He is…he _was _kind of famous. We did live in the woods over in Nevada for a while in my uncle's Cherokee cabin, but we came here for a movie shoot and then...this happened. That's my story." Piper confessed, biting her lip every so often with an expression of worry on her face as she gazed at her boyfriend. "Jason?"

He glanced at Percy and Annabeth with a hard look. "Jason Grace. I was here on a trip for one of the camps I was in. We were in a hotel and then some people tried to attack us and…I escaped. I'm not sure where everybody else went. We went looking for them, Piper and me, when we met. I was hoping to find my friend Reyna, or even an annoying guy called Octavian." He paused, looking towards the distance that held the city. "Have you heard either of the names?"

"Nope." Percy answered, leaning against the bark of the tree with his weapon next him. "Your story sounds alright to me. What are your thoughts, Annabeth?"

She nodded her head quizzically. "It's highly likely. Though, I doubt these two would lie to us very easily. Besides, at this point we have the upper hand."

"How?" Percy questioned. "It's two against two. We're even in numbers."

"Actually—" Piper began, but was cut off by the sound of rustling leaves. Everybody turned to the sound and held up their weapons. In that moment, a short boy popped out of the woods and shook some leaves out of his hair.

He grinned as he looked down at what was in his arms. "Piper! Jason! You'll never believe the jackpot I hit!" As he looked up, he stopped in his tracks and his smile faded as he first noticed Annabeth and Percy, two older teens who looked gruff enough to rip his throat out. "Whoa. You started a party without me?"

Jason lowered his weapon and continued where Piper had left off. "...it's two against three. We forget to mention the third party of our group."

The new guy mocked a look of hurt. "You forgot about me, huh?" He stepped forward and dropped his bearings in front of Percy and Annabeth. He used his hands to slick his greasy, dirty hair back and pulled down the forging googles on his head as he grinned. "Valdez. Leo Valdez." He said this in accommodation with a whole 'James Bond' impression. Percy had to admit this guy was interesting. Weird, but interesting.

They seemed like a strange trio. You had Piper, the girl who was of Native American decent and had some sort of charisma. Leo Valdez, who looked like a Spaniard with some sort of eccentric personality. He had greasy hair and what seemed to be grease all over his face. He was a funny guy, though his eyes looked amazingly tired as though he'd been up all night creating Frankenstein or some other metal contraption. Jason, the leader was, strangely enough, a very plain looking person. He was simply a taller, fair skinned blonde guy with a bit of muscle to him. All in all, he didn't appear to be somebody who was a leader. The only really amazing thing about him was the scar on his mouth. Of course, perhaps it was only Percy that thought that. He didn't seem like a big hero, but Percy wasn't like Annabeth who could read people easily. Heck, he even struggled to read signs on the road. At least he was good at combat.

"Anyway," Leo said, glancing around as he tried to break the awkward silence. "Since I'm assuming we're all friends or something along those lines now…" He turned to Jason and Piper, who were staring at him worriedly like he was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. "I managed to snatch some of the equipment from that store back there. I seriously hit the jackpot this time! I got a ton of wires, cables, a few broken screens, some seriously awesome sheets of metal they had in the back and—ooh—I also picked up some power cables that were lying around." As he spoke, he stuffed the materials into a sack that he had taken from his back. Percy was curious, but he was afraid the guy had homemade bombs or something even worse hidden in that sagging bag of his.

Annabeth took the chance to speak up. "I'm assuming you're great with mechanics and machines then?"

"That's right! I'm great with machines and stuff. If anything, I'd be willing to bet I've saved the lives of these two over three times since we've met due to my mechanisms." He answered, grinning confidently. He pulled the goggles back to the top of his messy head. "Piper's our negotiator and Jason is our leader. He's a great tactics guy. What about you two? Got any skills you'd like to share?"

Annabeth smiled lightly before continuing on. "Intelligence is my cup of tea. I'm great with figuring out problems, working through equations, analyzing scenarios, building structures and…well you get the gist of it."

Leo nodded indulgently as he swung his pack back onto his shoulders. "So the blondie's got brains. That's great in times like these. What about you?" He motioned towards Percy as he fiddled with his hands.

"Uh," Percy replied, trying to think of what his skills included. "I'm pretty alright at smashing zombies in the head with my bat here. And…I'm loyal to my friends."

"Loyal, huh?" Leo repeated. "That's a good trait to have. You'll both be great additions to the team, I can see it now! You'll both have to go through our initiation. Take off all your clothes!"

Percy and Annabeth's eyes got wide. Leo burst into a fit of laughter. "Leo," Piper warned, though she had a small grin.

"I'm only kidding. Jeez, you two should learn to lighten up. We may be in some bad times right now, but a smile can help a lot. But seriously…would you guys consider joining our team? We haven't got much yet, but you guys could really help us out and we could really help you. We're gathers after all. And...when you find good people you should stick together; that's what I always say. How about it?" Leo offered.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look. Percy shrugged his shoulders while Annabeth seemed to be analyzing the situation and the stakes that were being offered. Her grey eyes focused on Percy's face and he knew this as her thinking expression. After a minute of silence, she turned to the others.

"We'll join."

Piper sighed a breath of relief. Leo fist pumped the air. Jason nodded. "Welcome to the team."


	3. Promises and Unwanted Visitors

According to Annabeth, the best idea was to move on. Chances are the tree wouldn't hold all of them and it would be too cramped to stay in a tree with all of them. Besides, it was best to keep moving in such a time. Who knows who could end up tracking you down?

They marched on through the woods and passed endless rows of trees before Jason stopped them silently. He nodded his head up towards a wandering deer that was sniffing the ground. "…Deer."

Percy grinned and whispered, "Oh _deer_." The only one who chuckled back was Leo, who snorted lightly as he tried to contain his laughter.

Ignoring the pun, Jason pulled out a knife from his pocket and slowly stepped up behind the deer. A few in the group turned their attention to something else, but others watched in anticipation. Jason walked up cautiously to avoid making much noise. In a flash, he struck and wounded the deer. He made sure to kill it quickly as to not let it through too much pain.

He let out a breath as he stared down at the motionless deer. "I'm guilty, but I guess it's all we can do in times like this." He muttered to himself before moving the deer over to the group. "Here's dinner."

Piper turned around for a few seconds to regain her thoughts. Jason wiped his hand on his shirt and lightly patted her shoulder. Piper lowered her head. "Berries for me again." Percy's faced became distorted. It was hard to find edible plants in a world like this one. The poor girl was already skinny enough scavenging for plants to eat. He felt pretty sorry for her, and even for Jason who had to help supply her food to keep her moving.

Jason butchered and skinned the deer in private and then headed to Leo who had started a fire. Percy, who was wondering how he even started a fire so quickly, figured that he best let them do their thing as he sat down next to Annabeth on a log. She was writing down in a journal. As she felt Percy's weight plop down on the log, she shut the leather skinned book and glanced up at him.

"What's in the journal?" Percy questioned casually. Annabeth's fingers slowly rubbed the leather front of the book.

"Mostly information," She claimed, tapping the book in her lap. "Information about the current ways of a fallen society, the undead we've encountered so far, different violent groups we've come across, and a lot of other things about the world at the moment."

Percy scooted closer and rested his head on her shoulder. "It almost sounds like a fictional story. It's hard to believe a world so well turned to this."

Annabeth let out a sigh and turned her head to lay on his. Her hair tickled his ears and his nose as the blonde waves cascaded around his face. Her hand found his and they entwined their fingers together. "It really does seem like a story. Though, I'm partially thankful for this. It taught me to grow up and mature. I mean, I know it's a bad thing and all, but…being forced into the maturity really helped. I was so worried before about when I would finally mature and learn how to be a responsible adult. It came so fast and, while it was pretty scary, I'm glad I was able to mature so quickly. Does that even make sense?"

Percy felt the same. He didn't exactly enjoy the whole being forced into maturity part, but he at least was glad he got it over with quickly. If he hadn't adjusted quickly, he would have been dead and his girlfriend probably would have fallen with him. "It makes sense, don't worry." She was silent for a moment, biting her lip. Percy always knew this as a sign she was hesitating. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to ask….do you think we'll survive?" She asked.

Percy lifted his head from her shoulder and turned her face towards his. His emerald eyes stared into her stormy grey ones. "Hey, there isn't a doubt in my mind that you won't survive. As long as I'm here, I'll protect you with my life."

She furrowed her eyebrows and stared back, searching into his eyes for some sort of answer. "Not just—"

"Dinner is served!" Leo called, interrupting Annabeth's statement. She glanced over and saw Piper and Jason sitting next to each other, Jason trying to hide the meat from the vision of Piper as she nibbled on some berries and roots. Annabeth and Percy walked over to the makeshift campfire and sat down next to each other. Leo handed them some cooked deer meat and smiled at them. "Go on. Leo's specialty: deer meat with a savory secret ingredient!"

Percy raised a brow. "What's the secret?"

"Poison ivy!"

Jason spit out the meat in his mouth with a gasp.

Leo chuckled. "I'm only kidding. I found some sort of basil-like plant while I was cooking up old Bambi here. I tested it out and it's totally fine to eat. Besides, you guys should be confident in my cooking abilities. I'd never make a sucktastic meal like that!" Piper patted Jason consolingly.

Percy and Annabeth dug right into the deer meat, as they had not had such a big meal in a while. They normally scavenged for chip bags and protein bars in abandoned gas stations or convenience stores.

As soon as they finished the meal, they could already tell their stomachs were way fuller than they had been in a long time. Maybe it wasn't some top-grade meal, but it was more than enough to satisfy their hunger. Annabeth thanked Leo and Jason, and even Piper as a bit of pity since she'd been gagging when she saw the others eating the deer.

Once they were finished, they decided to move on for a while until they found a nice clearing to set up a small camp. They set up areas, one for each of them. Though, towards the dark hours of midnight, Percy decided to slip over to Annabeth's area anyway.

Annabeth patted the dirt beside her and Percy agreed to lie next to her. He took her hand in his and entwined their fingers together as they simply snuggled up against each other in the darkness. "Hey, Annabeth…promise me something."

"Yeah?"

He looked at her in the darkness, and he was amazed to see the moon reflected in her eyes. "If we…No, _when _we can get back to our normal lives as regular humans…Promise me that you'll be mine forever."

Annabeth's mouth widened. "You mean…you want to…"

Percy nodded his head, his lips curving into a gentle smile. "Yeah. We've been through so much together and you're my life support. I figured that it would keep us both happy and hopeful to make it out and fight to stay alive. It's something to look forward and to anticipate since there is nothing else to look forward to anymore. What do you say?"

Annabeth grinned back at him and pecked his lips with her own. "Of course, seaweed brain. We're together until the end. Got it?"

"Got it."

He leaned in, ready to give her a gentle kiss when a frantic looking Leo appeared. "Sorry to interrupt your love fest, but it looks like we've got a visitor."


	4. La Casa Leo

Annabeth and Percy raced over in time to find Piper knocking a crawler to the ground. It groaned dully as Piper finally managed to smash through the thick skull. She panted a bit, clearly startled by the sudden intrusion as she looked up and the couple who had just joined them. "Crawlers are coming."

Percy cursed under his breath before raising riptide and looking around the perimeter of the woods that surrounded them. Leo tinkered with some sort of contraption in his hands furiously. Jason walked up with a full sack on his back. "Pack up as quickly as you can. We need to move or we'll be overwhelmed."

"Piper and I can guard for now. You guys get all our stuff." Percy suggested, nudging Piper and heading off to scope around with her. The others did as instructed, quickly gathering their things and hastily throwing them in bags and other carrying devices.

As they hurried to meet back with Piper and Percy, a crawler suddenly appeared and groaned in their faces. Leo quickly threw the contraption he had been meddling with in his hands and an explosion rang out as the can exploded in the head of the creature. He grinned wickedly at Jason and Annabeth who were dumbfounded by his little invention. "Freaking awesome, right? Your friendly neighborhood Leo is always on call for some zombie butt-kicking action."

As they passed the body, Jason glanced down and noticed a machete slung in a bag around the corpse's back. He carefully took it and inspected it. It seemed to be in good condition and the blade hadn't been worn down too much. With growing interest, he swung it only to notice it felt right for him. He gladly accepted the new weapon and followed the others out of their camp.

As they sprinted through the wooded areas, Piper was the first to speak. "So, where do we go now?"

"Wherever this path leads us is the best option right now. If you haven't noticed, we don't have a map or any other place to elope to. We're forced to go wherever we can." Annabeth replied with a sigh.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, the woods began to retreat into what seemed like a small suburban area. They climbed up a hill and looked into the distance. Percy's eyebrows went up and the corners of his mouth tugged upwards. "Looks like we're in a city again. Home turf."

"Great," Annabeth replied casually. "I'm sure we can just rent a taxi. Anybody got any money? Oh, yeah, there's no need for it anymore." Percy walked up and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time so far these past few days. Truth be told, she was anxious and that made her crankier than usual. Percy, who was loyal to her, understood and made sure not to get too offended to anything she said.

Leo looked at the city's outline. "Ah, the city. Bright lights…busy streets…show business on the go! Next thing you know, there will be undead tap dancing up on Broadway."

"It's a shame we didn't find our way into the country instead." Percy noted, leaning dependently on Riptide.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

He shrugged. "Well, cities often mean big populations. Bigger populations means more walkers and less food to ransack from abandoned shops and buildings."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Not to mention there is less open space. Cities can be easy to get lost in, too. If we get put on the spot, we could easily be trapped by other gangs. We'll have to be smart about who we trust and where we get any information."

"Our biggest concern right now is finding a place for shelter." Jason interjected and motioned towards the sky. "It looks like a big storm is going to be coming."

"How can you tell?" Percy questioned, glancing up confusedly at the clouds. He wasn't exactly a meteorologist, but he doubted this guy was either. Jason simply shrugged his shoulders and glanced back up at the darkening clouds.

"I'm not sure." He replied coolly. "I can just tell."

Piper stepped over to him and looked at his new choice of weapon. "This weapon is in good shape. You're pretty lucky to have found something like that. It could really come in handy." Jason nodded in reply, feeling the butt of the machete. Piper stared at him longingly, thinking back to better times when he had been less distant. Sure, before he had still been pretty distant. After all, he didn't like to show his emotions or his thoughts easily. He wasn't the kind of guy to say what he thought or what he wanted. Though, since times had gone to such a waste, he became more and more distant from even Piper, whom he was most open to. It did have an impact on her, a little grudging feeling in her stomach, but she knew he didn't like when she pressed matters like that. As much as she tried not to worry, he seemed to grow more and more depressed every day and it was too hard to watch him suffer like that.

Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. "I know where we can go. At least for tonight, anyway, supposing the place is still intact and not infested with creepy crawlies."

"There isn't any better option." Annabeth pointed out. "Lead the way."

They moved into the city, sticking close to the shadows to, with hope; remain anonymous to any person or creature waiting to strike. Leo led them through streets and back allies, allowing his face to crinkle in concentration as though he were trying to remember the way to some old place he'd been to once. The others followed closely behind him, armed and ready to beat some zombie booty when needed.

Bothered by the silence, Annabeth fell into step with Percy. She huddled close to his side, making sure to keep a tight grip on her weapon in case she needed to break into action. Quietly, she spoke to her boyfriend so only he could hear her. "Percy," She sighed. He looked at her, green eyes watching her intently with the smallest hint of worry and yet affection. "I really wish things weren't like this. I was so happy and I was planning so much. I used to spend endless nights just staring up at the ceiling thinking of how nice it was to have you as a boyfriend. And, in those times of me thinking about you so intently, I knew that…I wanted you to be my first."

His eyes widened. "First what?"

Realizing how it could be interpreted, her cheeks flushed and she looked away from his eyes. "Well…my first everything, really…I'm not one to dream about romance or gawk like a girl in some sort of romance book, but it just made me so joyful to think of being with you for as long as I lived. I'd follow my dreams and study architecture, and you would go off to college with me and study marine biology and we'd be together through it all."

Percy mustered a grin and rubbed her back. "I understand."

"You do?"

He nodded happily. "Yeah, I did the same thing. It helped me fall asleep, I guess. All my life, I've known that I want to start my own family. I want to get married and have a bunch of kids. As time went on and I fell harder and harder for you, I realized that, if anything, I wanted you to be there with me. Through marriage and through the agony of childbearing, I knew you'd be loyal to me." He smiled at her and she felt her heart skip a beat. Honestly, she felt like she would only ever think of such things. She was the articulate one, thinking about how she wanted the future to be and what kind of family she wanted and how many kids she wanted to have, but it was a relief to know that Percy was considering as well.

Before she could reply, Leo opened a squeaky door in front of them and called, "Sweet! Here we are at La Casa Leo. Welcome to my humble, ex-abode. Make yourselves at home, ladies and gentlemen. The Leo train has come to a complete stop." He marched right on into the building confidently as though he'd owned the place. The others followed cautiously after him.

At first glance, it seemed safe enough. They made sure to inspected everywhere first. Nobody else was there. It was quiet, hidden, and it provided them shelter. Seeing their current situation, it was practically a five star hotel. Leo flopped down on a mat that was on the floor and relaxed.

"How did you even know of this place?" Piper asked curiously, using her hand to dust off a shelf on the wall.

"It was one of the foster homes I had to stay at once." Leo replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Percy looked at Annabeth and managed a small smile. "There's still hope. Let's go find a room for us to sleep in for the night." Annabeth smiled back and took his hand, following back through the corridor to find a space to sleep for the night.

When they opened a door, they would have been ready for an undead thing, but they weren't expecting a girl putting a cold towel on the forehead of some guy. She looked at Percy and Annabeth with wide eyes and she managed a startled squeak.

"Please, don't hurt us." The girl begged, protectively putting her body in front of the unconscious boy on the bed. He stirred in his rest. She looked terrified as though she were on the verge of tears already.

"Huh," Percy muttered. "La Casa Leo must be pretty famous."


	5. Like Boyfriend, Like Puppy

"Please, don't hurt him." The girl begged, taking the hand of the unconscious boy protectively as the others in the group swarmed into the room to see what was going on. "He's in deep pain right now, and I really don't want to cause any more trouble for him."

The guy lying on the bed was a muscled, Asian boy who seemed to be sweating and shaking profusely. As for the girl, she was very much awake and she had the most terrified look in her golden eyes. Her hair was long and curly in a dark caramel color that had leaves and small twigs sticking out from it.

"We're not going to hurt him." Percy said. "We'd like to know who you guys are."

Jason stepped forward and looked down at them with a surprised expression. "You two are…"

Hazel gazed back at him with the same surprised expression. "Jason? Aren't you with the others? I thought you and Reyna were inseparable." The fear in her face slowly seemed to fade as she chattered away with the familiar face.

Jason's eyes clouded over. "No, I'm not with the rest of the group." Piper seemed to notice the darkening of his eyes, so she took his hand in a tight grip. He looked back at Hazel with a determined look now covering the scowl that had been on his face a second before. "Did you two get separated from them, too?"

Hazel nodded sadly. "Frank and I were assigned to look for food, but when we came back to the camp, everybody was missing." She looked back over at Frank's sleeping form and bit her lip hesitantly. "We tried to survive, really, but he ended up getting sick and now I don't know what I can do to help him. I don't have any medicine or clean water to give him."

Jason stepped closer to the bed and inspected Frank. "We can help you. I'm searching for the rest of the group again, so you two should come with us."

At this point, Piper frowned in spite of herself. He was searching for his original group. The group that contained a girl named Reyna who Jason often brought up. Piper was flustered, though she mentally scolded herself for even feeling jealous. She trusted Jason more than she trusted herself. Though, she still had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She feared he would leave her and Leo to go reunite with his old group.

"Aw, man," Leo sighed. "You guys missed our deer fest the other night. You two totally should have been there! At least you two are coming with us, so you'll be able to get a taste of the freaking awesome food served by Chef Leo."

He grinned wickedly as Hazel glanced at him curiously. "You seem young to be a chef."

"Nope, he's not a chef." Percy relied. "Just a weirdo."

"Hey!"

Before any more could be said, Frank suddenly groaned in the bed as all eyes turned towards him. His eyes fluttered open rashly, and he tried to sit up. Hazel quickly put her hands on his chest and eased him back down carefully. "No, don't get up, Frank. You need to stay lying down."

His words came out slightly gargled as he replied. "I'll be alright. Who is around us?"

His eyes moved around the room at everybody. Leo was the first one to step forward and speak up. "We're your friendly neighborhood butt kickers. Nice to meet you, Frank!" He stuck his hand out towards Frank, who meekly took it and shook it lightly. Leo pulled his hand back and wiped it on his shirt. "Whoa, Hazel was right. You really are sweating up a storm."

"It feels so cold in here, though." Frank sighed, shutting his eyes and furrowing his brows.

Annabeth stared down at him and frowned. "We'll need to get you some medicine, Frank. While we're here, you need to stay in bed. By the looks of it, a lot of physical exertion could make things worse. We need to play on the safe side for now."

"One problem," Percy noted. "We've got no clue where to find medicine."

"Why don't we try the pharmacies around here?" Piper suggested, trying to make herself useful in the conversation. "The guys could go look and we can stay here at base to look after things and take care of Frank until they get back."

Leo groaned. "Why do we have to go?"

Annabeth smirked at him playfully. "One reason being you guys are terribly rowdy and would be bad nurses." She nudged Percy. "Besides, we've seen the way you guys fight. You could use a little practice anyway. We'd show you, but we would have to charge. Right, Piper?"

Piper nodded. "She's right, guys."

"You're so wrong." Jason stated, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. Seeing that in a long time made Piper's heart beat abnormally. "We can fight better than you both combined."

"Care to put your money where your mouth is?" Annabeth inquired.

Percy smirked back at her. "Bring it on, wise girl."

Leo snuck up to Hazel and Frank whispering, "Can't you just feel the tension there?" Hazel innocently cocked her head to the side. Before she could ask what he meant, Leo just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Wait 'till you're older, kiddo."

Not too much longer, Piper and Annabeth managed to shoo the guys out to search for medicine in nearby pharmacies. Armed with their weapons and strange Leo-approved contraptions, they headed into the streets.

Annabeth and Piper allowed Hazel and Frank to have some privacy as they stepped back out into the main foyer. Annabeth leaned against a wall and crossed her arms as Piper took a seat on a very dull, worn looking couch. "How are things with Jason?" Annabeth asked.

Piper sighed lightly, shrugging her shoulders as she redid the small braid in her hair. "I'm not sure."

"Wanna talk about it?" Annabeth offered. "I mean, I would totally get some ice cream and romance movies, but we're kind of at a lack of it right now."

Piper managed a grin at the joke and glanced up at Annabeth. "I guess…he's just been pretty distant lately like he's lost himself. He's used to be the older, wiser one and he likes to step up and be a leader. But when things are like this, it's stressful to be a leader and I think the stress is really bugging him out."

Annabeth nodded knowingly. "That would make sense. And, I think it has to do with you a lot, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Annabeth began with a breath, "He always seems to look at you as if checking to see if you're doing perfectly well. He always walks close to you with a hand near his machete in case he needs to whip it out to protect you. And, maybe I'm the only one that noticed, but when he looks at you he visibly relaxes. It's kind of sweet, really."

Piper couldn't help but grin giddily at her words. She wasn't one to act so feminine and gushy, but Jason made her feel so happy and complete that she couldn't help but turn to metaphorical mush when she heard things like that. "He's not exactly the best guy at verbally expressing his love or his feelings. His actions definitely speak louder than his words."

"I understand." Annabeth announced, rolling her eyes. "Percy talks all high and mighty, but he's a love struck puppy sometimes. It's so cute, really. You and I, Piper, we have those boys on a leash."

Piper laughed happily. "Of course we do," she chided back. "They'd be lost in seconds if we didn't."

Piper couldn't help but admire the moment. Since they met, she wasn't sure if she and Annabeth would get along. Annabeth always seemed to be confident and powerful. She was incredibly smart and graceful in her actions, even when she was kicking some undead buttocks. She expected Annabeth to be more calculating and snootily analytical, when really she was down to Earth and fun to joke with. Piper knew they would get along just fine.

"I wonder if they're talking about us right now, too." Piper wondered aloud, smiling at the thought.

Annabeth giggled and put on her best man voice. "Girls are so weird. You just never know what they're thinking! Then again, it could just be our testosterone clouding our vision." Piper laughed to the point she was practically snorting. Annabeth joined in as they produced a chorus of laughter.

While their bonding went on, Hazel sat on the corner of the bed with Frank, patting his hand lightly. "Are you holding out alright?"

Frank nodded his head slowly. "I'm fine, don't worry yourself sick."

"I can't help but worry." Hazel admitted, gripping his hand tightly. She stared into his eyes, furrowing her brows to further express her emotions. "I really can't help it. You're so important to me. I couldn't bear losing you. I'll die to help you get better, you know."

"My life always seems to be in your hands." Frank replied, managing a small smile. He was glad to see her shoulders relaxed at least slightly. She produced a small grin of her own in return. "Do you really trust the others, by the way?"

Hazel shrugged. "I had no choice, really. I wasn't just going to let you die here. I would have stood no chance out there on my own without you. If anything, we would either die here together or they will bring us down." She paused, hearing laughing from Piper and Annabeth who were with each other in the foyer. "They seem like good people. That is, of course, just an intuition."

"I hope so." Frank answered, resting his head back down on the pillow. It was cool to the touch allowing him some comfort despite his body sweating so harshly. "When are you going to rest?"

"When I know that you'll be alright." Hazel said, scooting closer and putting the back of her hand on his forehead. She frowned. "You're still burning up. I hope they get back soon."

Frank lifted his hand to hers and laced their fingers. "Don't worry about me, Hazel. I'm going to be fine. Right now, you just need to calm down and rest." She took a few deep breaths. He patted her back encouragingly as she did so. "The girls would enjoy talking to you I bet."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Hazel smiled. "…they seem like sweet girls. Maybe I should talk to them."

"Go ahead." Frank let out a yawn. "I'm about to fall asleep anyway. Now, go on, Hazel. Or I'll end up cuddling you like a teddy bear in my sleep."


	6. Talk About Chicken Pox

"Okay, that's totally gross." Leo said as he hesitantly flicked some zombie brain goo off of his shirt. His face was distorted in disgust. "Aw man, that's gonna leave a stain. Seriously, we got the sucky end of the stick here."

Percy and Jason signed in unison. "When you get a girlfriend you'll understand." Percy explained.

"If you get an order, you follow it. They're the queens, and you're the joker. And when _you _mess up, they come to kick butt themselves and make you look even more like a fool." Jason finished, holding out his machete in front of him as he grinned slightly.

Percy's lips had curved into a smile as well. "Gotta love 'em."

"So when they tell you to kill a zombie, you do?"

"Yep."

"When they say to kiss their feet?"

"Yes."

"…When they say to put the toilet seat down?"

"Now you're just being crazy."

The guys chuckled to each other as they stepped down the street with their weapons held fiercely in their hands. They scanned the area with their eyes, watching for any certain movement or groaning that could suggest a zombie nearby.

They stepped along the worn sidewalk before stopping in front of a pharmacy. "Let's take a look." Jason suggested, crouching down and slowly opening the door to the shop. Percy followed, reading Riptide like he was about to hit a zombie head like a baseball flying to make a homerun. Jason moved in slowly, looking around the aisles and tables with precise caution. He motioned for Percy and Leo to follow, so they scuttled in after him.

Leo couldn't help but to notice the small bucket of screws on one of the shelves. Excitedly, he poured them into his backpack and looked around for any more useful items that could aid them on their journey. He managed to find a few worn screwdrivers, batteries, wires, and other gizmos that he could make into something dangerous and, hopefully, deadly.

After a few minutes of inspecting, Jason stood to his full height and nodded at Percy and Leo. "It's clear. But, let's avoid making too much noise."

Leo looked at Percy, who was playing around with a small dolphin figurine. "Huh, some kid must have dropped this. It's kind of cute." Leo could tell by the glint in his eyes that he enjoyed sea animals. Heck, maybe he'd give it to Annabeth since he seemed to like it so much.

Jason had moved back behind the pharmacy counter and started searching through pill bottles and boxes with loaded syringes. Percy continued to toy around with marine life figurines and other weird things. Leo had looked around the store and collected materials like packets of beef jerky, electrical parts, and Batman themed Band-Aids. Nothing like a Band-Aid that said "I am the Night" to cover your zombie killing inflicted wounds!

Percy picked up something lying on the shelf. He read the red wrapper that was adorned with clashing green lettering. "Dark chocolate," He read slowly as he squinted with difficultly. "I wonder if Annabeth would like this."

"I don't know." Leo offered, scuttling forward. "But I know Leo sure would."

"Leo's not my girlfriend."

"That's beside the point!"

Jason had already managed to stuff many packs of medicine and syringes into his pack as well as a few energy bars that had been stored behind the counter. With a graceful eye (no pun intended), he scoped the rest of the store for anything worth their while. He didn't see much, unless the girls planned on using cheap make up to get dolled up for zombies. In any case, they looked fine already with dirt smudged faces.

"We got everything." Jason announced, hopping back over the counter to join Percy and Leo, who were simultaneously stuffing old chocolate bars into their sacks. "Let's head out."

Leo grinned. "I call getting back first!" He broke off into a sprint and whipped the door open. Unfortunately, he was met with a zombie lumbering over him. He screamed in shock and shut the door quickly, putting his back against it while he looked at Jason and Percy. "On second thought, those chocolate bars can wait for now."

Percy smirked at the door and held up Riptide confidently. He turned to Jason. "Hey, golden boy, ready to kick some rotten buttocks?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Well, way to be all heroic about it and make me look like the fool." Leo whined jokingly as he pulled a special Leo-Grande-Bomb out of his bag. Yeah, he still needed to work on a name for them. He quickly tossed one out the door and waited until he heard a big BOOM to open the door fully. Jason and Percy rushed past him, charging with their makeshift weapons.

Leo managed to find a spot on an old van that he totally would have tried to fix up if a bunch of undead girls weren't swarming him. In any other situation, he would have been pretty glad to see girls chasing after him. Though, it was slightly less appealing when those girls had rotten, decomposing skin with a glint in their eyes that really said _WE WANT BRAINS. _Leo threw down some of his bombs screaming out taunts like, "Hey, hey, a tasty Leo snack is over here! Come get an explosion of flavor, dirt bags!"

Percy was slashing around Riptide, hitting undead right in the cranium as stood back to back with Jason, who was fending off more zombies with his machete. They worked in harmony, slashing and dashing as well as yelling "DUCK!" when they needed some long range for their weapons.

After a few minutes of slicing and dicing, they managed to take time to catch their breath. The undead seemed to be gone for the time being, so they had enough time to scope the area and regain strength. Leo took some small parts from the car, which he deemed a hopeless case after inspecting it thoroughly. Maybe he could make something out of a broken down car battery and some loose headlights. A mechanical disco ball or something, maybe? Anybody could use a good boogey during the end of the world, right?

Leo led Percy and Jason back to the hideout, where they stepped in to find one of the scariest sights possible. Not the undead. But girlfriends and another cute girl who was sitting cross legged with them. Maybe it was just Leo, but girls were pretty scary. He looked over at Percy and Jason who both had that same lovey-dovey look in their eyes.

"You two are going to catch flies if you keep gawking like that." Leo commented smugly. "And I thought I was the least hygienic one."

Piper and Annabeth smiled at the sight of Percy and Jason. Piper was the first to speak. "It's good to see you're still alive."

Annabeth stepped over and inspected Percy's arms and legs, checking for any possible bite marks. "You're clean of marks." She returned her gaze to his face. He had some new dirt stained on his cheek, but she simply smiled as though he were perfect in any way. She stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss right on the bridge of his nose. "Good boy. What'd you bring us?"

Jason, Leo, and Percy all emptied the contents from their bags onto a table and shared their findings. Annabeth pointed out to Hazel what kinds of medicines would probably help Frank and then the two rushed off to aid Frank in the other room. Jason meekly handed Piper a few colorful fashion feathers he had found. "It's nothing special, but I know you like feathers as decorations in your hair and I noticed these lying around, so…"

Nonetheless, Piper managed a smile and pecked his cheek. "Thank you." She gazed down at the brightly colored feathers, and soon her cheeks turned a gentle shade of rose. "…I'm just happy you got back alive. Thanks for that, too."

Jason put his hand on her hand. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Leo, having nobody to spend the moment with, picked up a candy bar and cleared his throat. "Why, Leo, I'm so happy you made it home. Golly, it would totally suck around here without your awesomeness. It was so dangerous out there…Thankfully you made it back." He turned slightly, allowing a proud expression to make its way to his face. He lowered his voice. "But of course, Leo. I'd never leave you for the world. Please, take this candy bar as my 'you're so smokin' hot; I love you' gift."

Piper grinned. "Hey, I'm glad you made it back alive, too…even though your jokes are way too corny sometimes."

"Of course you're happy, beauty queen. I'm the one who brought the best goods." He exclaimed, picking up as many candy bars as he possibly could. "Chocolate paradise, here comes Leo!"

Their laughing was interrupted by a sudden scream from the other room. Piper, Percy, Jason, and Leo all jumped up and ran into the room where Annabeth and Hazel had been. Percy slammed the door open, raising Riptide into the air, ready to strike whatever god awful demon they found.

Instead of a demon, there was a chicken cawing on the bed. Annabeth and Hazel, who were wide eyed, stared at the chicken in disbelief. Leo looked around the room and scratched his head. "Hey, where's that Frank guy?"

Annabeth spun her head around. "See that chicken?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I kinda spotted Little Mr. KFC over there."

"That," Hazel gulped, still mesmerized by clucky. "Is Frank."


	7. Searching For An Answer

"I've never been interested in what's fashionable and what's considered normal," Leo commented, staring down at the now hectically clucking chicken running wildly beneath him. "But I'm pretty sure that suddenly turning into dinner isn't normal." Chicken Frank clucked, clearly startled, by the word _dinner_.

Hazel gasped and stepped in between Leo and the Frank-Chicken. "Don't you dare call my boyfriend dinner!" Chicken Frank clucked in agreement.

Percy looked dumbfounded. "How did he just suddenly turn into a chicken?"

Everybody looked at Annabeth, who seemed to have an answer for almost anything. She picked Frank up gently and inspected his feathered little body. "It just doesn't make sense." She voiced, gazing intently at the chicken. Percy didn't want to admit it because it sounded absolutely in sane but…he was jealous of a chicken. Okay, well technically the chicken was Frank, but she was still staring at him so much that Percy started wanting her attention. "Unless…Maybe thinking about being a human would work?"

They waited a few seconds in silence. Leo decided, after the hope faded, that he should speak up. "Well, I guess he's stuck—"

In that moment, the chicken suddenly stretched out into a larger being. It happened so fast that nobody had time to react when Frank was suddenly back to human form, crushing Annabeth who had been holding him only moments before. She groaned under his wait and he let out a startled sound as he quickly stood and helped her stand. "Sorry!"

She rubbed her arm. "It's fine. How did you do that?"

Frank was sweating slightly, nervously glancing around at the group. "When you were about to give me all that medicine, I saw the syringe and I got scared, but I didn't want to show it. I just imagined how much of a chicken I was and…poof. Suddenly I had wings and some really scrawny legs. It was terrible."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Leo said, hushing him. "You're in front of the king of scrawny here, big guy. It's not that terrible!"

"More importantly," Annabeth interjected. "You can apparently transform into animals."

Jason, who was previously scratching his head, let out a sigh. "Though, how can we be sure that we aren't just sick or something and imagining this?" Everybody got silent, thinking carefully.

Frank spoke up. "It was too real. I swear!"

Hazel bit her lip, trying to think of what to do. Percy just stared at everybody, frustrated by his own confusion. Leo was checking his body to see what was so wrong with scrawny. Annabeth's head was buzzing, trying to come up with a logical explanation. She turned to the group. "Can anyone else do that?"

Everybody thought of animals. Piper, though in disbelief, thought of being a cat. The others hesitantly imagined their own animals, thinking about them intently. Frank watched them all worriedly. Piper, having enough with imagining she was some sort of feline decided to speak up. "I can't do it. Maybe it's just Frank. That illness might have triggered something."

"Hey!" Leo suddenly called and stepped over next to the bed. He picked something up off the ground and dusted it off. He presented it to the group. It was a small, round ruby about the size of a half dollar coin. "Huh, we've hit the jackpot! Well, that would be if there was any government around anymore at least."

Hazel sighed. "They keep showing up around me! Is somebody dropping them?" She took one look at the group and her idea faltered. "...You all would not. It's strange how they keep suddenly appearing!"

"Is Frank doing that, too?" Percy asked. Frank shook his head.

"No, I don't think so." Frank replied solemnly. He'd only known the people for not even a day and he'd already made the worst impression possible.

Jason seemed to be thinking about what they needed to next. "…We should all get some sleep for now. We've been at a lack of rest for a while, and I think that the tiredness is starting to take over." Everyone seemed to agree. Within a few minutes, they had all found their rooms to turn in for the night and let their minds take in what had happened.

Percy had snuck off to go to Annabeth's room. When he arrived, she was sitting on the bed, resting her head on her knees that were pulled close to her chest. She seemed to lose her train of thought as Percy stepped towards her. He stared down at her, his green eyes glowing and his dark hair naturally ruffled by the wind. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

He frowned and sat next to her, staring her down with his ocean-like eyes. "I know you well enough to know that you probably thought so hard your brain fried. Are you really alright?"

She sighed, staring back at him with her own stormy gray eyes. "I don't know, really. It's just…so illogical for somebody to turn into an animal. It goes against any logic that I could possibly use to understand. Molecules can't just bend and appear and disappear like that. Jewels can't even show up in a place like this for no reason."

Percy scooted over and put an arm around her. "Just try to rest for now. Focus on me if you have to." She nodded and moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as he held her. The room was growing darker by the minute, signifying the setting of the sun.

"It's times like these I wish we could just freeze time and stay like this forever." Annabeth suddenly announced, leaning back against the warmth of Percy. He nodded. He always wished that time could just stop when things were like this. Peaceful moments that gave them even the slightest bit of security. He was with Annabeth, and he wanted to make her happy. If he had to travel to the end of the world or get bit by some undead thing, then he'd take the chance to keep her safe and sound.

Percy rested his head against hers, nuzzling his face into her hair. He took as much as her scent as possible. Her normal scent was masked by that of natural oils and dirt and the casual smell of pine. Though, subtly, he could smell the scent she once had before: something of a mint, soothing and intellectual; just like her being.

"You're not getting away from me, you know." Percy said into her ear, keeping his voice soft and low. She shuffled against him.

"What do you mean?"

She turned her head around to look up at him. He stared back at her. "I mean that I will not separate from you. We're together from the beginning to the day we die, and that day will not be for a long, long time yet. I'm going to protect you until the end; until I'm sick and dying and my last thought being of you and your beauty."

Annabeth simply stared back him for a few seconds before shutting her eyes and lying against him, resting against his chest as she felt the gentle rise and fall of his body. "I won't go away. And you won't either. We'll be together always, even after death. Don't worry."

Piper had managed to sneak to Jason's room. She stepped in quietly, shutting the door softly behind her. "…Jason?" She whispered into the darkness of the room she was positive he had gone into. She heard a soft grunt and followed the sound.

Jason sat up in his bed. In the dim lighting, Piper could hardly make out his form, much less in features. The only thing she could even hardly see was his eyes, piercing and blue in the darkness. She sat down next to him and stared in the general direction of the light that was most likely refracting from his eyes.

"Piper?" Jason asked into the darkness. She reached out and touched his arm, moving her palm along his skin until she found his hand. They entangled their fingers together. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't sound upset; just surprised by her sudden appearance. Softly, she whispered her answer. "I just wanted to see you. I know you've been stressed out and, if it isn't obvious, I've been stressed out, too. We don't see each other alone too much anymore. We haven't for a while."

"Oh," Jason replied. Piper noticed the pitch change in his voice to something deeper, something that sounded slightly guilty. "I'm sorry. Come here." He pulled her closer, wrapping his strong arms around her. They normally didn't do this, so Piper was excited by his affectionate touch. He was warm against her, giving Piper some relief from the coldness she had acquired from her own room. "I'm sorry." He repeated an apology.

"It's fine. I was just worried about you." Piper answered, leaning softly against him, shutting her eyes to enjoy the feeling of him against her. "You seemed so distant lately. I want to help."

He let out a breath. It tickled her ear. They were so close. "I know. I shouldn't just push you away like I have been doing. I've just been nervous about this whole deal lately. Since we've met the others, I've been feeling…strange. I'm not sure what I feel, but I think there is something there, whether it is negative or positive."

Piper nodded her head. Honestly, she had felt the same. There was something strange deep down, tugging at her gut every time she laid eyes on the others around them. She even felt it slightly when she looked at Jason, as though there was something inside her that needed to be triggered already.

"Pipes," Jason announced, snapping Piper out of her thoughts. He sounded worried. "You're shaking." He held her tighter, holding her against him. She could feel herself trembling. He rubbed her back quickly, probably trying to soothe her.

Before he could ask why she was shaking, she rested her hand on the back of his head and whispered. "This is a stupid question, but…what do you feel for me?" she asked him.

He paused before answering. "It must not be obvious, but," He sighed. "I…I do love you."

Piper nodded, resting her head against his chest once again. "Good. I love you, too."

They fell asleep in each other's arms.


	8. Burn Baby, Burn!

Leo woke up in the morning to the startling realization that he was on fire. He jumped up and patted himself to get rid of the flames that were licking him. As the flames were extinguished and the small puffs of smoke departed, he took a look at himself. There were a few minor singes in his clothes. His hair was a nest of curly dark hair. He had no burns on his body.

It would have seemed impossible that he hadn't gotten burns. This had happened once before, though he was conscious and willing the flames to appear. It had been a few days ago before they had met Hazel and Frank so he could cook some deer meat. It was strange, almost like he had magically been granted some sort of wish as he thought, "Boy, it sure would be nice to have something to start a fire now."

Leo figured there was something that triggered the fire. Maybe it was by his will or maybe it just happened when he got too excited. He cursed himself for being a teenager boy for the fact that he'd burst into flames as he dreamed sweetly. He was embarrassed enough, though catching on fire just made it worse.

Stepping outside his room, he shut his door quietly secretly hoping nobody else would go in there. As he walked down the creaky wooden floor, he heard another door open and turned to look where the sound had come from. Percy and Annabeth emerged from the room. Percy yawned while Annabeth rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Whoa, you two slept together last night?" Leo asked eyes wide with surprise. His cheeks dared to go red at the thought. Maybe he wasn't the only teen here that still acted his age.

Piper rolled her eyes, but spoke in a slightly higher octave. "Leo, we didn't do anything weird." Jason just stayed quiet, his cheeks allowing a very slight crimson to appear.

Leo grinned and winked. "Sure you didn't. Ah, young love at its finest."

"Shut up…" Jason said, though he smiled.

Following their encounter, everybody else swarmed out of their rooms and met up. They gathered in the foyer, sitting and talking up a plan of action. "Our best bet is finding people we know." Jason offered. Everybody knew he was talking about his old camp mates. Piper shifted, still nervous about the people he knew from that camp. Specifically Reyna.

"And potentially get betrayed and attacked?" Percy replied, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

"They wouldn't betray us." Jason replied.

Percy frowned. "Are you sure about that?"

Jason opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but he shut his mouth and seemed unable to say anything further. Hazel sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if they did…Octavian must be in charge?"

"Octavian?" Leo asked. "Is he some sort of fancy tea-sipping dude or what?"

Hazel rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "He's the opposite. He's just…some very scrawny guy who has a love for ripping open stuffed animals and aside from that he's bossy and just plain rude most of the time!" She nodded her head as she crossed her arms. While he wouldn't admit it, Leo thought she was pretty cute.

"What exactly should we do, then?" Piper asked the group. "We don't have many choices at all. Obviously we can't stay here for the rest of our lives and we can't just sit around and do nothing."

Annabeth was thinking hard, her eyes smoking with ideas in her mind. "The city might offer us more chances at supplies since it's hard to totally loot most of the sky rise buildings. Though there could potentially be a lot of bad groups that we need to avoid." She bit her lip, thinking even harder.

"Our chances at survival pretty much suck right now, then?" Leo asked. Annabeth nodded grimly. "Well, that means we've got pretty much nothing to lose at this point."

Hazel suddenly let out a gasp and hopped up, backing into Frank's chest. "Leo, you're on fire!"

Leo smiled. "Well, thank you. But, uh, you've got your big guy right there, you know."

She shook her head wildly. "No, no! I mean you are literally on fire!"

Leo looked down over his shoulder and noticed that his pants had suddenly burst into flames. Instead of panicking like the others were, he simply sighed and patted away the flames. "I always wanted a smokin' hot booty, but this isn't what I meant."

"How are you not burned?" Annabeth asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Well, uh, about that." Leo started. "I kinda have this thing where I can, like, suddenly combust and make fire at will and not get burned by it. But, I mean that doesn't take away from my charming personality, right?"

Percy cocked his head. "What personality?"

"Hey!"

Jason couldn't help but snicker, though it was hard to tell if it was from hysterics or his next little joke. "Talk about a burn."

"Jason Grace, did you really just make that pun?" Leo chuckled.

Jason winked. "Guilty as charged."

"Something is going on." Annabeth announced, shaking her head slowly. "You all have these strange powers. That isn't normal. And it can't possibly be coincidence that you met when you suddenly have these extraordinary powers." She frowned and looked down at her hands, her thoughts obvious on her face. _Where are my cool powers?_

Leo had noticed it before, but the more he saw her and observed her reactions he realized that there was one fatal thing that could hurt her. She had a lot of pride built up. She was the kind of girl who would work her butt off and never back down to something lowly. She was confident and assured, and she always seemed to have a plan. Though, when it came to it, she didn't like being the lower being. She was the one who wanted to stay in charge and make the plans that would save the day. But, hey, maybe Leo was just playing too hard into it.

"So, Frank is some animal guy. Hazel is a precious jewel," Leo observed. "And I'm a super-hot guy? I like the way things are going so far for me."

Jason pondered this. He shut his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted off the ground. When he opened his eyes, everybody was staring at him like he was late to the party. "Oh great," Percy sighed. "He's superman now."

"Jason, get down here!" Piper called.

As if overwhelmed by her words, he fell right into her command and flew back down and stopped, momentarily waiting for her next command. She cocked her head.

"You took that seriously." She said.

Jason blinked. "Oh. I did."

She shut her lips tight. After a few seconds of silence, she spun around to Leo. "Do the chicken dance!"

"Whoa, Beauty Queen, I'm not gonna—BUCK GAH." He made a sudden chicken noise and then his body was moving on its own, dancing in a very suggestively chicken like fashion. He could almost hear that song in his head. It was more like a distant memory as he tried to remember what the melody was like. An apocalypse is seriously messed up if you can't even remember the tune to the chicken dance.

Hazel smiled weakly. "Well, we found her power."

"All that's left is Percy and Annabeth." Frank offered. Everybody turned their attention to Percy and Annabeth. She didn't want to admit it, but she felt insecure. What powers could she have? She was just some brainy girl from New York. She was fit and everything, but she wasn't some super strong girl that could take down a jaguar. She was just the smarty-pants Annabeth Chase from Long Island Sound.

Percy just shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't noticed anything weird about myself yet." He paused. "Well, I mean puberty was pretty weird, but…I'm guessing that's not important."

"We'll figure it out soon." Annabeth interjected, trying to draw the attention away from superpowers. "Right now, we have some moving to do and some butt to kick. Guys, we're going to need those abilities of yours if we're going to live. Move out."


	9. Powerful, Powerless Leader

{**A/N:** Oh gosh. I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in like...a month. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life, and I haven't been able to really find the time, motivation, or emotional stability to get to writing this. BUT, I'm back, baby, and I'm better than ever. I was surprised to see that this, my first ever story on here, was getting pretty popular. So, I'll make you all a promise to keep on trucking with this and, all the while, keep you all on the edge of seats and on the verge of crying as much as I can. Thank you all for sticking around through that wretched wait, and I hope you enjoy this next part. 3}

"This isn't as easy as I hoped it would be." Jason commented, floating upside down with his arms crossed above Piper's head. She looked up at him. She hadn't expected him to be perfect with the whole flying thing right away, and his determination was cute. A small smile spread on her face and she balanced up on her toes and pecked his cheek.

He blinked as his face became red. Whether it was a blush from a kiss or the blood getting to his face from being upside down it made Piper laugh nonetheless. "You're the look out; your job is important. Keep trying." She didn't even need to use her newly acquired powers to get him to work.

Jason ended up floating around aimlessly, attempting to right himself up as Piper went off to check on the others. She decided to check on Leo first. She had learned long before that if she didn't check on him every so often, things spiraled out of control. Hesitantly, as she didn't trust him with his fire powers any more than she trusted Jason with his ability to fly, she stepped towards him. He glanced up at her, grinning wildly. "Beauty Queen! Check this out!" He fanned himself dramatically. "Is it hot in here?" He asked, hardly containing his smile. He licked his finger in a swift motion and moved it to his rump. His finger steamed. "Nope. It's just me."

"Leo," Piper began, shaking her head. "You are such a dork."

"A _hot _dork, you mean." He said with a wink before laughing and walking away to tinker with some parts.

Everything seemed to be going well until she heard a scream from Hazel. Whipping around, Piper saw that she and Frank were being ambushed by some walkers. Nobody was close enough to them, except for Percy who leaped in front of them with Riptide and started to beat some of them down. The others tried to rush over to them as quickly as possible. Annabeth and Piper pulled Hazel and Frank back, both of them frozen with shock and fear as the boys tried their best to fight. Simply by glancing at him, Piper could tell Jason was getting frustrated not being in control as he tried to kick at the Zombies. Leo tried to draw the attention towards him as he blasted walkers in the face with flames.

Between Jason and Leo, the walkers were split evenly. Though, Percy was being overrun greatly as most of them ignored Leo's insults and Jason's jerky flying. He did well for a while, until he was overwhelmed. He fell back on his bottom and couldn't find the space to get up. Annabeth let out a scream as she ran forward with her knife pulled out. Frank panicked and turned into a ram before running towards the walkers as fast as he could. Piper held the trembling Hazel in her arms, trying to use her charmspeak to calm her down.

Unfortunately, it was hard to control your powers when you were scared or nervous and especially hard when you were both. Piper was a little agitated by the fact that she would have trouble with that aspect, but she tried to breath and force all her energy into her words to help Hazel. Within a few minutes, Hazel seemed to relax visibly.

After a while, everything seemed to calm down for the most part. They managed to escape by rushing off to a Suburban house that had a pretty large treehouse. Leo and Jason had gone to inspect the house, making sure there was nothing potentially harmful in there to hurt anybody. They were going to clear a way to the attic as to make a place for the group to rest for the night. Everybody needed a break to restore their energy for the night.

Out of all of them, Percy seemed the most frustrated. He was bruised and had a lot of claw marks on his arms from the walkers. Luckily, Annabeth and the others had saved him before he had gotten bit. He likely was upset for feeling so helpless. He wasn't the type to sit back and he saved. He was apparently used to being the savior. Annabeth sat next to him, holding his hand and whispering in his ear to help him to relax.

Hazel was huddled close to Frank, resting her head sadly on his shoulder. He rested his head on her head, patting her hand that was on his knee.

"Sorry." Percy said all of a sudden. Everybody looked up at him. Annabeth sighed as he continued on. "I should have been more careful."

Hazel shook her head. "No, don't be sorry, Percy. You saved us. If you hadn't been nearby, I don't think Frank and I would have been as lucky as we were. If anything we're sorry that you got hurt." Frank nodded along, looking guilty.

"...I'll be fine. I've suffered worse." He claimed, averting his eyes from everybody to the window that was sawed into the side of the treehouse. Annabeth frowned at this statement.

After a while of uncomfortable silence, Leo poked his head into the treehouse from the door on the side. "Sheesh, are you people dead in here? C'mon, the attic is way livelier. You people could use a little cheering up. Your host, Leo Valdez, is here to save the party. Follow me."

Everybody followed him into the house and up the stairs to the attic. They entered, stunned by the relatively great condition of the attic. Jason was just finishing up moving a small couch to the middle of the room. There was plenty of seating for them to sit and rest. There were even some divided spaces for each respective person. It wasn't a penthouse or anything, but it practically seemed like one in the situation they were in. "We've really outdone ourselves, Mr. Grace."

Jason let out a breath and flopped down on the couch. "I did all the dirty work like carrying this old thing up here."

"Hey," Leo began, poking his shoulder. "You're the strong guy. I'm just here to look good." Jason let out a little snort.

Hazel let out a gasp. Everybody looked at her. "Oh, Percy, dear…You're bleeding." She frowned, looking down at the lower back of Percy. Shocked by this, Annabeth spun him around and lifted up the back of his shirt. She winced at the sight of it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded.

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I only scraped it when I fell." She let out an angered huff and forced him to sit down on the couch. He sighed. "Annabeth, don't worry about it. It's not going to kill me or anything. I mean…" He trailed off, getting interrupted by Annabeth.

"Don't you dare say I shouldn't worry!" She all but screamed at him. "For once, you need to get rid of all that heroic pride pent up in you and learn to admit when you're in need of help. You and I, Percy, we promised each other that we would make it to the end, together or nothing. And if that means anything to you, you need to learn to take care of yourself." He was silent, staring at her with a guilty face. From the looks of it, she really hit the nail on the head.

Everybody was silent as the fuming Annabeth moved towards the attic window and looked out of it. She scanned the horizon outside and turned around. "There is a steam over there. It's our best chance of water, and we need to clean up everybody's wounds." As she said that she projected a pointed glance at Percy. He shuffled under her stare. "Is there any chance we can take a quick trip there and back?"

Leo smiled, trying to break the tension. "Well, kids, it's time to take a field trip."

Annabeth bounded out of the attic, not giving Percy another look. He stared after her, trudging behind her. Piper was pretty surprised by Annabeth. Before, she would have assumed that Annabeth would have simply been your typical puppy in love when it came to Percy. Obviously, she was wrong. She was proud of Annabeth, sticking up for what she believed was right and what was needed.

It wasn't clear that Annabeth had some sort of superpower. But, even with lacking power, she was a natural leader.


End file.
